Dancing for Change

Editor's Note: To view the full-length video of Tuesday's flash mob performance by Gathering Change, Inc. click here.

On Tuesday June 28 at Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield, members of Gathering Change Inc. held a flash mob. Gathering Change Inc. is a nonprofit group that aids local food pantries through encouraging people to donate their spare change. In Tuesday's flash mob, the group and members of the community gathered to perform a choreographed dance to Katy Perry's song "Firework."

Increasing Awareness

“We wanted to bring awareness to an issue that is not going away,” said the president of the group, Dorothy Goodwin. Goodwin further explains that food pantries experience an increase in need during the summer because many students who received subsidized lunches at school no longer have access to that food.

Goodwin credits Mary Taggart, Gathering Change Inc.'s Community Outreach Chair, with putting the event together. She said that Taggart felt that the words to the song “Firework” spoke to the needs of people without food. The group needed “to stand together, to represent those without a voice,” Goodwin said.  A flash mob seemed like the perfect way to accomplish this goal.

The group taped the event and will post their video on YouTube for July 4th with the goal of reaching more people. Goodwin hopes that people will want to send their change in, and the money will then go to local food pantries.

Modifying the Steps

At Tuesday's event people from age 6 to 60 participated. Before performing on Tuesday, the group got together to rehearse the steps. To start the process, Taggart spoke with Jen Storer about a possible choreographer for the flash mob. Storer thought of Alicia Twohig, a dance teacher at North Reading’s The Dancing School. “I knew Alicia would love to do it!” said Storer, whose children and nieces have had Twohig as a dance instructor for many years.

Storer’s niece, Ali Griffin, who also happens to one of Twohig's dance students, attended the first rehearsal and Taggart and Goodwin noticed Griffin’s talent immediately. Taggart asked Griffin if she could modify Twohig's steps to make them a little easier for the group.

 “I went over to my aunt's house, we watched my teacher's choreography and then the tape of us dancing at the rehearsal and tried to find a balance between the two - eliminating some of the most complicated movements,” Griffin said, “together with my aunt, we wrote it all down and created sections that repeated to make it easier for non-dancers to learn.”

After the modified choreography was complete Griffin’s mother, Stacey, another flash mob dancer, filmed her doing the steps to help the others learn. Griffin said she was flattered that Goodwin asked her to lead the dance when the flash mob took place.

Storer, Griffin and her mom are not members of Gathering Change Inc., but knew of the group and were excited to get on board with the project. Storer’s children and Griffin’s younger sister “created a business called Smiley Sunflowers where they sell homemade items (such as friendship bracelets and bookmarks) for Gathering Change,” said Griffin. Griffin herself is involved with other charity work and plans to assistant teach in a class for students with disabilities when she is a freshman at Lynnfield High School next year.

A Great Success

The three had a great time participating in the flash mob. “We met some wonderful people through the experience and truly enjoyed helping out,” said Storer.

Their excitement echoes Goodwin’s enthusiasm coming into the event. Goodwin said the group “was so excited to participate.” She explained that everyone who came to rehearse brought change with them, which will be counted later on. Goodwin hopes that when the video goes up on YouTube many people will see it and get excited about helping out the cause.

"What better way to bring awareness about Hunger than to dance in a group as one to show we care,” said Goodwin. She urges people who want to know more about Gathering Change Inc.’s fundraisers to visit their website at www.gatheringchangeinc.org.